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Because most of the governments here are still basically monarchies that greatly limit personal freedoms, the Near East overall doesn’t get very high marks on the Social Progress Index. The countries that are aligned with Western ideals—at least to some degree—seem to fare better than those that are opposed to the West. Israel, a longtime ally of the United States, earns a 72.6 rating on the SPI. For some of the countries in the region, large deposits of oil have made them incredibly wealthy. As the nation that exports the most petroleum of any in the world, Saudi Arabia is one of the richest countries in the Near East and is a traditional friend of the West and the United States. The country scores 64.27 on the SPI. Saudi Arabia has a powerful military that has helped to maintain some stability in the region, but strict enforcement and interpretation of Islamic law has led to harsh treatment of individuals. Those caught with alcohol, for example, may receive 100 lashes as punishment, and drug offenses may be punishable by beheading. Kuwait is also oil-rich and a friend of the West. It ranks at 69.19 on the SPI, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks at just about the same level as the United States, with a 72.79. Overall in this region, the UAE (39th), Israel (40th), and Kuwait (47th) get top scores on the SPI. The lowest scores are for Yemen (128th) and Iraq (113th). Bahrain, Libya, Oman, Qatar, and Syria do not have enough data for some of the components of the SPI, so their scores are not complete. Just south of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE is Yemen, which has one of the lowest SPI scores in the region, at 40.30. Rebels took over the country at the beginning of 2015, and the government has a history of instability. With

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